Painted on the curtain of Alexei Ratmansky’s “The Nutcracker” is a pretty little house, only it’s tilted askew. It’s the perfect metaphor for this take on the ever-present holiday tale, told by a man who sees things with a child’s eyes.
This production bowed last Christmas, and while Ratmansky says he hasn’t changed any of the choreography, someone must have sprinkled enchanted snow on it because everything looks better.
Ratmansky’s heart is in storytelling, and last year’s “Nutcracker” seemed to give short shrift to the dancing. At Wednesday’s opening, the two big waltzes for the snowflakes and flowers looked much clearer. Maybe it’s added experience and repetition, but the acting now has more detail as well.
The action begins in the kitchen with holiday preparations, amid chefs, maids — and mice hiding under the tables. Guests arrive, and the party unfolds with Ratmansky’s gently absurd Russian humor: Grandpa sneezes, Grandma wheezes and the children stamp impatiently waiting for holiday loot.
The battle between the mice and the soldiers is a Lewis Carroll wonderland where not only the Christmas tree grows, but the furniture, too. Clara whacks the Mouse King with her shoe — though she missed him that night (but this is the theater, so he died anyway).
The divertissements in Act 2 veer toward parody. The Arabian man looks like Mr. Clean, pursued by four demanding harem girls. The three Russian guys are high-flying goofballs. And four male bees flit through the Waltz of the Flowers.
Clara and the Nutcracker Prince see older versions of themselves, who dance the grand pas de deux. It, too, has moments of giddy humor but there’s much more. Ratmansky has a gift for making dancers look their best, and his adult Clara, Veronika Part, has never looked as animated or daring. Rather than a stock grand ballerina face, she smiles with radiant joy. But the risks she now takes also made her hard to handle. Marcelo Gomes, who can partner anything, was working overtime.
“The Nutcracker” has always been about growing up, but few choreographers have been more sensitive to a kid’s point of view. Even your ballet-phobic son would like it, though Ratmansky’s ending might bring a wee tear to your eye.